The Fort Greene Mob

Two different types of paranoia were on display this morning at a Fort Greene polling place, but both seemed (as of 9:30) unfounded. The line moved fast and the friendly poll workers didn’t turn anyone away.

“Once you’re inside the building, they can’t turn you away,” said office manager Swoan Parker, 41, in line a few yards outside the door. She and others urgently advised a man wearing an Obama shirt to zip up his leather jacket– wouldn’t want to get turned away for “campaigning.”

“Sen– Pres– he will be President Obama,” said Parker when asked how she’d vote.

The man next to her rolled his eyes when asked. “I’m for change.” Andrea Bonner, 41, who works in marketing, agreed.

Would anyone around here be voting for McCain? The Fort Greeners looked at each other.

“They probably live in Brooklyn Heights,” said Parker.

People also assumed they’d be stuck in line all day. “But I purposely voted in person” as opposed to absentee ballot, said Bonner, a recent transplant from California. “I wanted to be here.” She added that she found the line outside PS 46 “festive.”

Alas, only minutes later she was waved into the school’s gymnasium.

But then there was that other line into the building, on Clermont Avenue. It went all the way down the block, and people said they had waited for over an hour already. Note to Fort Greene voters: enter on Adelphi Street!